Reunion at the Zoo
by rockyshadow
Summary: It's the Wildcats ten year reunion and Chad and Taylor haven't seen each other since Gabriella's Stanford graduation. Includes Ryelsi, Troyella and eventually Chaylor. I don't own High School Musical
1. Chapter 1

Taylor McKessie was going back to her hometown for her high school reunion. She sat in the airport waiting room as she thought about what happened since graduation. She had

been living in Connecticut since her graduation from Yale University six years before. She was now an intern for a powerful politician and liked to think that she was on her way being

President of the United States like she promised her classmates she would be someday. She was still keeping in touch with Gabriella and Troy, Kelsi and Ryan and Martha and Jason,

but hadn't seen Chad since Gabriella's graduation ceremony at Stanford.

The reunion was at the Rio Grande Zoo and was taking place during the day in case any of the alumni wanted to bring their children. Taylor didn't have any children, but Troy and

Gabriella and Kelsi and Ryan did. She would tell herself that she didn't need children and that the reason she didn't have a family of her own was because it hadn't been part of

the ultimate goal she had made for herself. Kelsi and Gabriella would e-mail her pictures every few months of their children. She would always get an empty feeling after that. She

mostly chalked that up to missing her old high school friends, but it was also because she wished she had what her friends had. The other women had found the men of their dreams

in high school and sometimes Taylor wished that she had too. She wasn't as determined to marry as they were since she didn't believe that a woman needs a man like that. Her

friends would laugh about that and tell her she was stubborn and just wanted to stick with the future she had mapped out for herself years ago. She couldn't really deny that. Troy

would tell her that it reminded him of someone else they all knew, namely Chad. She tried to ignore them all. She would find someone someday, even if it wasn't her high school

sweetheart. She knew the statistics of that happening, the odds were against her. All those years of competing in the Scholastic Decathlon had taught her that. Since Chad

still lives in Albuquerque she knew that she would probably see him at the reunion and was bracing herself for it. She knew breaking up with him before coming to Yale had been the

right thing to do. Seeing him at Gabriella's graduation had been hard enough, she would be strong enough now to not give in.

Chad Danforth didn't work that far from the zool During his short drive he began feeling the excitement of going to the class reunion. Seeing his friends from high school was

going to be fun. He was nervous about seeing Taylor again though. He knew she was going to be there. She had been East High's class president, going to this would be her way of

showing school pride just like playing basketball had been his. He regretted not keeping in contact with her after graduation. He thought that Troy and Gabriella had, but he didn't

really remember either of them mentioning her when he talked to them. He probably just hadn't listened to them when they had, after all she was still Gabriella's best friend. As he

sat on his car in the parking lot he thought over every one of his decisions concerning Taylor no matter how much he knew she had to do her own thing he should have done

something to show her how much he had wanted her to stay.

He snapped out of his thoughts and started noticing the people entering the park. At first he only saw people like Alan or Cyndra, but then he spotted old friends like Jason,

Martha, and Zeke. Jason and Martha were dressed similarly in warm ups and tennis shoes. Zeke wore shirt that read, "Zeke's Gourmet Bakery" and jeans. Sharpay entered soon

after dressed in an oufit that was covered from top to bottom in rhinestones. Not far behind them were two kids followed by Ryan and Kelsi. The children couldn't be mistaken for

belonging to anyone else but them. The boy looked exactly like Ryan with colorful clothes topped with a hat, the girl could be Kelsi's miniature with a dress covered in music notes and

a hat of her own. He saw Troy and Gabriella enter with their little girl, a brunette with wavy hair and blue eyes a moment later. Taylor was the only one who hadn't come yet. He

wondered where she was. Why hadn't he seen her enter? Chad decided that he better get in before he was left behind.

There had been about three hundred graduates for their class and since the reunion included the families of hte alumni. The place was packed. Chad hoped to find at least

one of his friends, but was anxious about the possiblity of seeing Taylor in the maze of people. This was definitely one of those times that he wished he was at least as tall as Zeke.

The zoo's grounds were in complete chaos.


	2. Chapter 2

Chad may not have seen her come in, but Taylor was there. She had arrived at the same time as a large family and managed to get herself surrounded by them while entering the park. She maneuvered her way around the many people. She finally made her way to the place that housed the flamingos. That was the first exhibit and it was amazed her how long it had taken to get there. She had never been to the zoo while it had been this crowded before. She tuned around and tried to head in the opposite direction where the primate exhibit was located, that's where she hoped to find her friends. She found Ryan and Kelsi and their kids, Ethan and Natalie, at the bird exhibit. Ethan was fidgeting and trying to escape his mother's hold while his sister was staring at a roadrunner with the look she always gave something before composing a song., the little girl had a composition book clutched in one hand. She went with the Evans family around the park for awhile, admiring all the different birds with the them. They went through the giraffe and elephant display, then the kids decided that they wanted to go on the train. When they got to the train, Taylor and the Evans' found the Bolton's ahead of them in line. Ethan and Natalie were excited about going on the train. All three kids grabbed Taylor and wanted her to sit with them, but each child wanted to sit on different parts of the train. They squabbled for awhile, but once the Evans kids told Corrie Bolton of their plan she was okay with Taylor being with them.

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When standing in line Natalie had seen Chad and told her brother. She knew that Chad was nearby and the train car held four people each. She was a five year old on a matchmaking mission. She was going to get Taylor and Chad together. She had heard her mom's phone calls with Gabriella and knew that they wanted that too. Now all she had to do was a little bit of scheming and maybe she would get Ethan to help her. She tried to get Chad's attention by making a commotion, but all that accomplished was getting a scolding from Taylor. Ethan then tried to distract Taylor as Natalie sneaked over to where Chad was sitting. She held onto her composition book in her hand, ready to take notes on what he was doing.

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Chad saw Kelsi and Ryan's daughter coming toward him. He wondered where her family was and why she was in the aisle of the train alone. She looked like she was sneaking around. He saw her look around for a moment, she must have been checking for her parents. He should have kept in touch with Ryan all these years, if he had he could have just talked to her and asked her what she was doing. She seemed to be scribbling something in her notebook. Chad looked around again for Ryan and Kelsi, they were probably on the other side of the train.

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Natalie could hear her brother telling Taylor about the dance move their dad had taught him the week before as she continued to observe Chad. She thought about asking him if he wanted to sit with them, but wasn't sure if she should. Her mom and dad had told her not to talk to strangers, but she wasn't sure if Chad was a stranger since her parents knew him. She unconsciously inched closer to where he was seated and braced herself to ask him questions. That's when Taylor decided to come and get her. Taylor had her stand up and motioned for her to follow her back to their seats, but then she saw Chad. Natalie noticed the two adults staring at each other intently and grinned at her brother who was watching them too.

The nervous feeling Taylor had felt at the airport earlier that day came rushing back as she stared at Chad. He looked different than the last time she saw him. His hair wasn't as big as it was before and he had grown a full beard. His clothes looked to be fairly similar to what he wore in high school. Gabriella had told her that Chad was now an assistant coach and recruiter for the local basketball farm team, the Albuquerque Thunderbirds. His attire now probably had nothing to do with that though. She turned away from him, grabbed Natalie's hand and tried to make her way back to Ethan and her seat when Chad stopped her.

Feeling that the main part of her mission was accomplished Natalie let go of Taylor's hand and made her way back to the section where her parents and the Bolton's were sitting. Ethan followed her there. All that needed to happen now was Chad and Taylor needed to talk, because at this point all they were doing was staring at one another.

"Taylor wait, please." called Chad as Taylor tried to worm her way out of his grasp.

She really didn't think that it was a good idea to talk to him right then. All the other people on the train were staring at them. She tried to get as far away as she could from him. She made her way to the furthest compartment away from him and all her friends. She knew she was panicking over nothing and he wasn't going to do anything to her.

"I've really got to get out of here, " she thought

Gabriella and Kelsi looked at her with worry written all over their faces. They were hoping that she wouldn't react like this. They both got up from their seats and followed their friend down the aisle. While their wives were following Taylor, Troy and Ryan caught Chad's attention. They had no idea what was going on.


	3. Chapter 3

All Taylor could think about when she saw Chad again was that she had to get away from him. Once the train stopped she walked out as fast as she could. She headed toward one of the souvenir shops located near the entrance of the zoo. Kelsi, Gabriella and their children followed her there. Taylor entered the gift shop and went through the aisles without really looking at anything. Her friends found her looking at a book with a blank expression on her face. Gabriella and Kelsi wordlessly decided that Gabriella would try to talk to her to try and figure out what was wrong while Kelsi stayed with the children.

Kelsi, Natalie, Ethan and Corrie headed toward the reptile exhibit and left Gabriella to talk to Taylor. Gabriella walked up to the aisle where her best friend stood. Taylor was acting very different than she normally did and that worried both Gabriella and Kelsi. Between the three of them she was always the more confident one and for something or someone to rattle her like this completely shocked them both.

"Taylor, are you okay?" she asked quietly

"Yes, I'm fine," Gabriella gave her a look.

"Really, I mean it," she hesitated

Gabriella doubted she was telling the truth. Something was wrong and she needed to find out what it was. She tried a different tactic.

"It must have been nice seeing Chad again, I know you haven't seen him in years,"

Taylor tried to avoid eye contact. She couldn't deny that seeing Chad again was what caused her to act so out of character. Her nervous energy was making her fidget and she knew it was obvious that she was trying to hide something. She would tell her the truth, she was her best friend and knew that Gabriella probably already suspected what was wrong anyway.

"Okay, I'll tell you what's wrong with me. It does have to do with Chad," she began

"Well, what's wrong?" Gabriella questioned again

"Ever since the invitation to the reunion was sent to me I've been anxious."

Before Gabriella could get any more information she and Taylor heard a sound. They turned in the direction they heard it. They found Corrie by the door and when she saw them she quickly walked over to where they were standing.

"Corrie, what are you doing here?" asked her mother

"I told Kelsi that I don't like snakes before we left you and she told me to come back here," she explained

"I've been standing here a really long time and I was really, really quiet. Wasn't I Mom?" she continued

"Yes you were. I just wish you had told me you were there so Taylor and I could have talked to you."

"Why don't you take my phone and call your dad? " she suggested and went on to say

"Remember it's the first number. Ask him what he's doing while I finish talking to Taylor."

Corrie took her mother's phone and turned away from her mom and Taylor dialing the number Gabriella told her to call. She always loved talking on the phone and using her mom's was even more fun. After ringing twice Troy picked up his phone.

When Troy saw who was calling he made sure to answer it right away. He never knew when it could be an emergency. He heard his daughter on the other end of the line and didn't relax until she said

"Hi Daddy, what are you doing?"

Troy was very confused about why Corrie would be calling him when she was supposed to be having fun with Ethan and Natalie. He looked over at his two friends at the other side an exhibit as his daughter continued talking. Ryan was asking Chad what happened on the train.

Corrie told him about not wanting to be with the snakes and Kelsi told her to stay with her mom while she took her kids to see the reptiles. She continued with a really long story about something the Evans kids did after the train ride. He listened to his daughter talk while he made his way to Chad and Ryan. He needed to know what was going on with his best friend right now.

Troy found Chad pacing around the exhibit with Ryan following behind him. He could tell by the look on Chad face that he was still very confused and trying to talk about what happened on the train hadn't helped him understand things any better. It was true that Taylor seemed to get this reaction out of him all the time when they were teenagers. They were all older now though and the two of them hadn't seen each other in years. What could have warranted this reaction now?

"Corrie, I've got to get off the phone now and get back to Chad, okay?"

"Okay Daddy. Bye bye."

"Bye, Corrie"

Troy hung up his cell phone. He headed toward him and held out his hand between the two of them to stop his pacing. Chad still looked baffled by her actions and Troy hoped he could help. He had helped him with Taylor before, he could do it again. This was probably a lot harder than just giving Chad ideas for asking her out like he used to. Maybe if he, Ryan and Chad discussed it together they could figure out what Taylor was thinking. Though none of them ever really understood her.

Ryan remembered that it had always been easier to figure out situations with help from other people. He knew his sister was here somewhere and thought maybe he could give them a female perspective on this. He called her and discovered that she was in the park section and led the way to her.

Kelsi and her kids reunited with Gabriella, Corrie and Taylor and they all decided to go to another exhibit together. The three children wanted to see the koalas, so they all headed toward that enclosure. They decided that they would meet up with the guys later.

After entering the koala enclosure the first thing they saw was Martha. It had been a number of years since Taylor and Gabriella had seen her so they made a bit of a scene with their reunion. The people around them were looking at them strangely and the kids started giggling at the three women in front of them. Kelsi quieted the children and joined Taylor, Gabriella and Martha while they all kept an eye on the kids the whole time.

When Chad, Troy and Ryan found Sharpay the first thing she did was boast. She led them to a fairly empty section of the grass and said

"You were right in coming to me. I know exactly what Taylor was thinking."


	4. Chapter 4

The three men looked at her in rapt attention anxious to hear if she knew how to explain the reason for Taylor's abrupt departure. Chad was obviously desperate for any clues, since Sharpay would probably not be his first choice in confidants in the matter. He had successfully avoided her throughout college and didn't really want to talk to her now. He did trust Ryan though, and the other man was definitely confident in his twin's ability to help.

"She was thinking, that she hasn't seen you in years and is really scared to see you again." she explained

"Well, I already figured that out. Is there anything else?" Chad asked irritated

"Do you want my help or not, Danforth?" Sharpay responded annoyed

"Of course I do, but so far you haven't helped me with anything." he shouted

"You haven't given me a chance." she yelled back

There were former classmates everywhere and they couldn't find anywhere where they could have this conversation without drawing attention to the two arguing twenty-seven year olds. They separated the two and Troy decided that they would try to find another way to figure out what to do about this. Ryan really should have remembered that Chad and Sharpay had never really gotten along before. Why should now be any different?

Taylor happily talked to Martha, Kelsi and Gabriella about the latest happenings in their lives, relieved that she had managed to steer them away from talking about her and Chad for now. Ethan led her to another exhibit while his sister took the other three women and Corrie in the other direction.

Ethan wanted to try and arrange a few things so he could help his sister with matchmaking. He led Taylor to the kangaroo exhibit to distract her and plotted what his next move would be. Maybe he could talk to the man that sometimes filmed his dad's musicals, Jason. He knew he had gone to school with his parents and was around there somewhere. He could ask Taylor to help him find him.

While looking at the kangaroos, Taylor thought about the last time she had seen Chad, at Gabriella's graduation. He had been sitting not far from her and was in a very nice suit. She remembered being a little surprised that he dressed up for the occasion since he had worn a t-shirt and jeans underneath his cap and gown for their high school graduation. He would do anything for Gabriella, just like Taylor, even if that meant that he was dressed in uncomfortable clothing throughout the ceremony. She watched as he was listened to Gabriella's speech. She hoped that he didn't know that she was staring at him. She had almost gathered enough courage to talk to him as her best friend had concluded her presentation, however that's when he had decided to stand up and leave the room to her complete confusion.

Taylor was brought out of her thoughts by Ethan Evans. She could tell he wanted to ask her something. She waited until he stopped squirming in her grasp and explained what was wrong with him. He looked very excited for reasons that completely escaped Taylor. As she tried to calm him down he suddenly stopped squirming and looked right at her. She had no idea why he was looking at her like that. Then he spoke.

"Taylor, have you seen Mom and Dad's friend Jason?" he questioned with a pleading look on his face "You know, that man that sometimes films their plays?" he continued looking a little hopeful "Dad told me he went to school with you, so he's probably here somewhere, right?" he concluded with another eager look

She had no idea why he was so anxious to see Jason, but figured that Martha may know where he was, so she led Ethan back to the others and decided that it would be best to ask her where he was. They found them at the enclosure that housed the animals that were only visiting the park for a short time. As they walked she tried to get the child to give her a reason for wanting to see Jason, who she wasn't even sure Ethan knew very well.

Ethan was hoping the plan that he and his sister were cooking up would work. He and Natalie were Evans' and Aunt Sharpay always told them that any plan made by an Evans would always work. Their mom had told them about the plans that their aunt had come up with over the years. She called them "schemes" and schemes didn't sound like a good word like plan did. Maybe their mom was wrong. Schemes had to be a good thing and they were going to prove it once they got Chad and Taylor together.

Taylor asked Martha if she knew where Jason was, so she could finally calm the overly excited child next to her. Luckily Martha had Jason's cell phone number and dialed it. She discovered that he could be found in the butterfly enclosure at the other end of the park. The six of them were now on their way to that exhibit, with Taylor telling Kelsi about how worried she was about Ethan's behavior while they were alone the whole way.

While they were doing that, Chad, Troy, Ryan and Sharpay decided that maybe Zeke would be a better option to ask an opinion of about the matter of Taylor's odd reaction to him. Chad knew that Zeke was used to a woman that would exhibit distant behavior and had probably been the better person to ask about this all along. It also helped that Zeke, unlike Sharpay had been Chad's friend for years. He figured that the taller man would be back at the food court giving the workers advice on their cuisine and business practices, since that was what he was doing now, so that was where they were headed.


	5. Chapter 5

When Ethan told Corrie and Natalie about his plan that included Jason both girls were excited to put it into action. The Evans kids knew that he almost always had a video camera with him and were hoping he had one with him now. They wanted him to film Chad and Taylor and maybe that could prove what those two adults were clearly not seeing. First they had to talk to Jason though. Corrie was a little hesitant about their plan, but they just chalked that up to her not being an Evans, who were great at planning stuff that people didn't know they wanted to do. She told them that this could turn out bad.

While the kids were doing that Kelsi was telling the other three women about the things her kids tended to do and tried to reassure Taylor that Ethan's recent behavior wasn't unusual. He always plotted schemes that she and Ryan thwarted together. She had had a lot of practice with that type of situation over the years and reiterated that it was definitely nothing to worry about. Taylor wasn't entirely convinced, but she didn't really want to question her friends' parenting skills. Kelsi continued to talk to Gabriella and Martha as Taylor began to worry about Chad again.

Jason Cross knew that Martha, Taylor, Gabriella and Kelsi were coming to the butterfly enclosure to talk to him, so he stayed where he was instead of going to another exhibit like he had planned to do. He had no idea why he wanted to see him, but he didn't mind. He hadn't seen Gabriella or Taylor in years and had never met Corrie, so this was probably going to be fun. He had been filming all the animals that he had seen so far that day. The polar bears, wolves, and tigers were definitely interesting subjects, but butterflies held their own appeal. He saw the group coming toward him and walked over to greet them.

The three children ran ahead of the women to see the man they were all looking for. Natalie and Ethan ran straight to him, but Corrie hung back and waited for her mom. Jason hugged each woman as they caught up with the children, than he embraced the Evans kids before asking about Corrie.

"Hi, you must be Corrie Bolton. I'm Jason Cross, a friend of your mom and dad's from high school." he said speaking to the child directly and shaking her hand

Gabriella thought that it was sweet that Jason spoke to her daughter like that and frankly she was a little surprised he didn't say anything that would cause the other adults around him to groan, like he frequently had during their high school years. He'd certainly figured out how to filter what he said now. She was definitely relieved about that. He talked to the other kids for awhile before deciding that it would probably be a good time to ask the ladies what they wanted from him. The children looked at the butterflies as he spoke to his old classmates. They revealed that the person who had wanted to speak to him was actually Ethan. None of the women knew why he wanted to talk to him, but Kelsi had her suspicions.

Natalie had noticed that Jason was holding his camera in one of his hands. She wondered if they should swipe it from him or ask him if he wanted to film Chad and Taylor for him. She would ask this away from her mom and the others of course. She tapped her brothers shoulder and gestured toward Jason hoping her brother would be clued into her train of thought. Luckily he seemed to understand what she was trying to tell him and made his way over to the camera carrying man.

"Jason, may I use your camera?" he asked in the sweetest voice he could manage

Ethan grinned. Their plan could really come into action now. Jason absentmindedly handed the boy the camera as he continued talking to Gabriella. Ethan walked back to where his sister and Corrie were standing and showed them what he had acquired. Natalie grinned back and Corrie looked apprehensive. The first thing he decided to film was Taylor so Chad could see her for how amazing she actually was. Maybe that could get his attention long enough to make her interesting to him again. He pointed the camera up to her face and got as close to her as he could. It probably wouldn't be any good from far away. Taylor wasn't sure what he was doing, but didn't question it. She even tried to pose for him a little. Laughing, Ethan circled her a few times and filmed her in as many poses as he could before his mom realized what he was doing and decided to ask if he had permission to use it. He nodded and continued what he was doing. Kelsi just let it go.

While that was happening, Chad, Troy, Ryan and Sharpay found Zeke exactly where Chad had suspected he'd be, at the food court. His advice wasn't going over too well with the vendors, especially since none of the people he was talking to did any of the cooking. He didn't let that bother him though. When he saw his old teammates and the Evans twins coming toward him he gathered them all together and gave them each a hug or a handshake.

Chad thought that this would be as good a time as any to find out what Zeke's thoughts were on the situation with Taylor, so he asked him. Zeke thought about it for a few moments and finally answered the question with an answer that Chad somewhat had expected, but he did give him more of an explanation than Sharpay had.

"Maybe she just doesn't know what to say to you anymore. Remember the conversations you two had in high school?" Chad nodded as Zeke continued

"You never made any definite plans and she always had to hint to you what she was thinking. What was your last conversation like before you saw each other again today?"

Chad thought back to the day six years before, the last time he saw her. He had gone to Gabriella's college graduation, but couldn't make it through her speech. He had seen Taylor sitting right next to him and had a sudden urge to get away. He felt bad about that. Gabriella was his friend and that was not something he would ever want to do to her, but seeing Taylor again had made him very nervous. The thing he told Troy when Gabriella couldn't go to their prom had been going through his mind. "You can't take the high school girlfriend with you." That was something that he had always regretted and the graduation ceremony was the first time that it had come up again. He wasn't sure if Taylor had ever been told about that piece of flawed advice he had given Troy all those years ago, but he didn't want to take any chances. She had always been the person who would make him doubt his decisions and it seems that time hadn't lessened that ability. Maybe once she stopped running away from him he could get her to talk to him so he could explain his actions. This could all be because of conversations that they never had, but probably should have.

Troy had noticed that Chad had an intense look on his face while listening to Zeke's explanation and figured that his best friend had finally decided what he was going to do about Taylor. He was very relieved about that and hoped Chad's plan wouldn't make things worse for both his friends. He wanted things to work out for them. That was the main reason why they decided that they needed to ask the question to as many people as they could after all.

After finishing giving Chad his advice Zeke invited all his friends over to his bakery. Ryan called Kelsi and told her about the invitation and she proceeded to tell everyone else with her about it. The group decided to reunite at another exhibit and leave the zoo for the day. The kids were excited and began to decide what they would order once they arrived there. They still had Jason's camera and now they were going to see Chad and Taylor in the same place. It would give them plenty of opportunities to plan something interesting.


	6. Chapter 6

The first to arrive at the bakery were Chad, Troy, Sharpay, Ryan and Zeke. Since Zeke was the owner, that was a good thing. Not long after the five of them were settled and Zeke offered them snacks the rest of the group arrived. Those who hadn't seen each other yet hugged and greeted one another. While that was going on Troy, Ryan and Jason put some tables and chairs together so everyone could sit together. The Evans' and Bolton's sat together with Sharpay and Zeke and Jason and Martha surrounding them. Chad and Taylor sat on either side of the head of the table. The friends began to reminisce about what they had done in high school.

Chad wasn't really listening to the conversation between his old friends. He was just thinking about Taylor and what Zeke had told him. He really needed to talk to her, and should really stop avoiding her. He stood up from where he was seated and was about to walk over to her, when he noticed that Natalie was staring at him with her composition book in her hand and that her brother had a camera. The camera was pointed at him and he knew he was being filmed. That made him freeze. He didn't want his talk with Taylor to be filmed, it was going to be hard enough to talk with her without knowing the whole thing was being recorded. They were just kids, he reassured himself, and there had to be a way for him to get Taylor's attention without Ryan and Kelsi's children noticing what he was doing.

Taylor knew Chad was coming toward her and knew that the Evans kids were filming them. She hoped that he wouldn't be intimidated by them and would talk to her. They needed to talk. She didn't want to be reunited with him and not talk to him. It had been too hard the first time. She tried to show him with the expression on her face that she did want him to talk with her. She didn't want to be the one to start the conversation, he had to do it. Bravery suddenly struck him. In front of all their high school friends and the three children; Chad took Taylor by the hand and led her to the other side of the bakery to talk like they should have done years ago. The kids were still filming, but Ryan realized what they were doing and returned the camera to Jason.

They sat in the furthest table from the rest of the group so they could have some privacy. They both wanted the other person to be the first to talk and break the awkward silence. They could still hear their friends talking about the old times across the room. Ryan was also disciplining his children in one corner. Chad glanced at Taylor one more time and decided that he better say something. He really didn't want her to leave as he watched her stand up and head back to the other table.

"Taylor, wait, please," he pleaded as he grabbed her hand one more time

"I need you to promise me you won't try to run away again," She nodded and sat down once more.

He took a deep breath and began to try and explain why he had done what he did the day of Gabriella's college graduation. He nervously started with the what had come to his mind that day when he had seen her again after so many years. Taylor saw his reaction and knew that he had been just as anxious about their reunion as she. She didn't blame him for what he had said to Troy back in high school. She didn't think that they were going to date after graduation either, but she could tell that it had been bothering him that he had said that anyway. Everything that happened that day six years ago, it turns out, was just one big misunderstanding. Neither one of them had ever been any good at figuring out their own love lives. They both were also far better at helping out others with problems than they were with their own. The tension that had been surrounding them all day had finally eased and they started to catch up with all that had been going on in their lives when their conversation was interrupted by three children.

Ethan, Natalie and Corrie had been told by their parents that they had to apologize to Chad and Taylor for filming and spying on them. They thought that interrupting the adults' conversation that they had been avoiding for years would be the perfect time for that. Chad wanted to yell at them, but Taylor knew that they were just kids and didn't know any better.

"Just let them apologize Chad, you know they didn't mean any harm," she said trying to make him understand

He sighed and gestured to them to continue with what they wanted to tell them. Corrie looked nervous, but the Evans kids knew exactly what they wanted to say. Each of Ryan and Kelsi's children stood in front of one of the adults and prepared themselves to apologize. Corrie hid behind Natalie the whole time.

"We're sorry for taping you, we were only trying to help." Natalie tried to explain

Her brother nodded and Taylor tried to reassure them that they weren't mad, but they needed to know why they would do that. She hoped they trusted her and Chad enough to tell them the truth.

"Well, we know that our mom's were talking about how you aren't happy and you're their friends, so we want you to be happy," Ethan clarified

Taylor found the confession sweet and Chad didn't feel like yelling at them anymore. He wanted to get back to talking to Taylor as soon as possible, but in order to do that he needed the children to go back to their parents.

"It's okay, we forgive you." comforted Taylor

Why don't you three go back to your moms now, so I can finish talking to Taylor." Chad added

"Okay," Natalie said happily.

She lead Ethan and Corrie back to the table with the rest of the adults as Taylor and Chad got back to the conversation they had begun before being interrupted

"Look Taylor, I really miss you and I want to see you again. Would you like to make plans to meet somewhere before you go back to Connecticut?" he asked anxiously

"That's a wonderful idea. I'm going to be staying with my parents until Wednesday. We could do something together before that." she responded excitedly

"Okay, well, good." he said in a relieved tone

He looked at her nervously again and she wondered what he could be thinking now. He didn't look like he was going to tell her if she didn't make him. She hoped that their talk would get him to open up again, but maybe not. She moved the chair she was sitting on closer to him and took his hand, patting it. Touching him was making her lose her focus, but she knew she had to get him to talk. She looked into his eyes.

"Chad, are you okay?" she asked hesitantly as she realized that he hadn't spoken since the moment that she grabbed his hand

"Um, yeah, fine." he said distractedly

Suddenly he pulled her out of her seat and onto his lap. Surprised, she started to squirm, but soon realized that that was exactly where she wanted to be. She stopped fighting it and leaned into him. He had never been very good with putting his feelings into words, so she really shouldn't have been surprised. On the other side of the room their friends were watching and smiled to one another. They were all happy to see them together. Things seemed to be going very well for Chad and Taylor now. They hoped it stayed that way.

They knew they were being watched. Chad thought that everybody witnessing this was probably payback for all the times he interrupted Troy and Gabriella in high school. They just ignored the rest of the group and stayed where they were until it was time for Zeke to close the bakery.


End file.
